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About Rae Z. Ryans

Altered is book two in the Beyond the Brothel Wall series. It will release November 30th, and I’m excited to share the news and the cover.

This story still packs action, mystery, and steamy, erotic romance, but it’s also my first full M/M romance. Cain and Dorian are two of my favorite characters, and this won’t be the last of them.

Ah, still wondering about Korrigan and Petre from Constricted? They both make an appearance in Altered *winks*.

Grab the pre-order now at .99 cents. After release day, the price will change to $3.99.

Looking for something different?

My alter-ego, H.G. Rexon has a new release in October.

A historical fantasy, Between the Fog and Shadows is a chilling tale of murder and mayhem. Suitable for YA audiences-contains mild violence. In time for Halloween, you can pre-order my short story on Amazon.

The ultimate grab bag of fiction returns again for its second volume. Go on a journey into imagination. Be born. Die and rise again. Fall into the future. Find yourself. Find love. Stumble into hell and discover redemption. Know heartache and watch the world change before your eyes. Twenty writers from around the globe invite you to join them. Welcome to our worlds.

Can the Special Operations Executive save Britain’s favored treasure before the Nazis destroy them?

Stella by Marta Karnes

When Tommy Cole attempts to fulfill a dream nearly lost, a tragedy unfolds. He tries to rebuild his life, but in the end, will he lose all he loves?

Stasis by Jeroen Van Baardwijk

Life can be scary. Especially when you wake up one day and have no idea where you are.

When it Rains by Danise Janica C. Bautista

“The rain will remind me of you…” – Lawrence. Can a voiceless love end up with a happy ending? Or will the silence cut it off forever?

Don’t Speak by C.J. Galaway

What does a scene say when words can’t?

The Guardian: When the War was Over by R.L. Andrew

Archangel Gabriel faces the most difficult decision since existence began. Mankind’s future hangs in balance as he battles a former friend, but are they worth the sacrifice?

Home for the Holidays by Kerry E.B. Black

Twin sisters risk a winter storm to celebrate the holidays at home, but a brush with the supernatural may alter their plans.

The Bond by Jeanne Felfe

Maggie and the people on the Gulf in Port Aransas are tough, but when a hurricane takes direct aim, can her family’s bond survive?

Becoming Nonna by S.E. Hudnall

Sometimes, it takes a tragedy to open your heart.

The Last Walkabout by Joseph Y. Roberts

Old, lame, and half-blind, Targ is cast out of the tribe to find his way into the Underworld alone.

The Wrong Harvest by Paul Draper

An English farm in the summer, a boy who can talk with nature, and a father with a secret. What hides beneath the soil?

Featuring Book Hunter by Damien Lutz

When anti-activists cripple the city’s power, cyborg Zack Vella is forced to hunt down the only remaining source of information: rare printed books. But will Zack find the information before his own power runs out?

Yesterday, I received the news that Thundered Hearts had been nominated for a RONE Award. This is the highest reward available to Indie authors. I’m both honored and thrilled to be recognized among such talented authors.

Zoro is a character from Thundered Hearts. He isn’t like my usual characters, and the inspiration to write him came from a close source. Almost too close.

This was Baby Kitty the fall before the wild dogs claimed her. Now, let me start by saying that technically she wasn’t my cat. We rescued her when she decided to give birth on our property and she never left–We didn’t complain either.She was a trip to watch play. And no butterscotch crimpet was safe in the house.

We tried to bring and keep her inside, but she would escape. I say this for anyone thinking she’d be alive today if we’d only kept her indoors. It’s easier said than done in a household of seven people opening and closing doors, three of them young children.

I based Zoro, a reincarnated Spirit Walker, using Baby Kitty’s personality, changing the sex to male, and giving him the ability to speak to the MC, Beth. Zoro isn’t a shifter, though. He chose to stay a cat, which gives him the ability to guide Spirit Walkers.

To this day, he was the hardest character to write, and I almost didn’t have the heart to finish writing Thundered Hearts because Baby Kitty died before I finished the rough draft. But I kept her memory alive and bled into the pages.

It only feels fitting to say goodbye to both Zoro and the inspiration behind him, Baby Kitty. I even went as far to dedicate Thundered Hearts to her memory, but what I had originally planned as a series, screeched to a halt. Maybe one day I’ll write more about Zoro, but not in the near future. My heart can’t go there, not even a year later.

Thank you for following me on this A-Z journey. I will continue making rounds and visiting the participants. It was a blast.

Yggdrasil [ˈyɡːˌdrasilː] is a large tree from Norse mythology that connects nine different worlds. The etymology is unknown, however, it’s generally accepted to mean Odin’s horse. Though many say it means world tree, after askr (ash) Yggrasill. We will probably never learn the truth, but it doesn’t hinder the tree’s mystery and allure.

In mythology, the massive ash tree sits at the center of the cosmos, and it’s three roots extend to three locations, while it’s branches also travel to the nine worlds. If you count them all, including our world, there are actually more than nine. Nine came to be a continuous number because Odin created the nine worlds. However, three other worlds existed prior to them.

Urðarbrunnr, Hvergelmir, and Mímisbrunnr are all associated with water. The first is the home of the Norns and lies beneath the world tree. The second is a bubbling spring from which all waters rise, and it’s located in Niflheim. The last is Mirmir’s well, the place where Odin sacrificed his eye to gain knowledge, and it’s located in a special place within Jötunheimr, called Ginnungagap– this is where the universe formed in Norse Mythology.

Trees are often sacred in religion. Ash, in turn, became sacred to the Norse as Odin himself decreed it. Some scholars believe Yggdrasil is here on Midgard, but those of the revised Norse faith believe otherwise. Either way it’s a fascinating piece of lore for writers to study in world building or the historic aspect of the Norse.

X is a difficult letter for me, so instead of pulling out some crazy word, I decided to share one of my favorites shows. I started watching X-Files when it first aired in 1993 with my parents. At the time, I was only 12, but the paranormal bug had already wiggled deep into my genetic makeup.

However, the show sucked us in and introduced us to scientific and unexplained phenomenon. It taught me about government conspiracy and tinfoil hats, too. To this day one of my favorite episodes featured the men in black, and most of the show was “bleep.” I’ve even gone as far to pay homage to Fox Mulder in Special Agent Dorian Fox.

After all the years that X-Files has been off the air, I was positively thrilled to hear they were coming back.

Long before I was an author, I was a writer. Technically I was a ghost writer, which at times was fun. No longer do I slave away my days writing for others. Now I write for the readers and, of course, me.

But ghost writing did have its benefits. I was able to write about anything without worrying about my name being attached to it. From cookbooks to blog articles, I’ve written just about everything.

Writing books, even under a pen name, I have to be careful that every word I write is true not only to me, but to my story, too. Writing for yourself, whether it’s books, articles, or blog posts is a big step when you’re not used to the spotlight.

I’ve always had a way with words, and I’ll say that most writers do. But I don’t crave fame or recognition, not to say it’s wrong to; it’s just not for me. All I want to do is wake up, drink coffee, write and tell a story.

It’s that drive that makes us writers. The act of doing, the art of making. Weaving words until they paint pictures, instruct and educate others, or inspire.

Imagine a world without us. No poetry, no novels, no articles… What a sad world that would be. So while I started speaking about me, I really just wanted to thank the writers in our world. Without you, this would be a boring place.

Fenrir by Chaos-Draco on DeviantArt
Vargr is another name for a worg in Norse mythology, but I’ve always been partial to vargr. In the mythology it represents Fenrir, Skoll, and Haiti, but it isn’t applied to other wolves. They show up in The Saga of Hervör and Heidrek—said to be Tolkien’s inspiration for building Middle Earth.

What is that lamp which lights up men, but flame engulfs it, and wargs grasp after it always. Heidrek knows the answer is the Sun, explaining, She lights up every land and shines over all men, and Skoll and Hatti are called wargs. Those are wolves, one going before the sun, the other after the moon.The Saga of Hervör and Heidrek

I love mythology, history, and the undead. Hey, I’m a bit morbid. So you’re probably scratching your head, unless you happen to know your Russian folklore. Essentially the Upir/Upyr are vampires, undead, and they rise from the grave. In many ways they’re similar to other vampiric myths.

So what makes them special?

Aside from the history? Nothing much. But all around Russia different myths arose as well as other names for the undead. The same goes for their abilities, yet the only things they have in common are drinking blood, sensitivity to sunlight, and they were evil in life.

According to the Orthodox Church, a Upir arises when the person committed horrendous sins or denounced Christ. In doing so, the church banished them and forced them outside of the community. But when they died, they would rise again as Upir.

Because of this, the church would find the bodies and burn them. Otherwise, the sinner would return and torment the believers, slowly aging, and with the ability to possess the dying. The sick patient would become Upir, too, and feed off children and family.

The Upir is weakened and harmed by sunlight, but there’s a particularly interesting part of the myth. They used wooden stakes, made specifically from aspen, and they buried the Upir upside down. When one was suspected of coming back to life, they would dig up the coffin, open it, remove the body, stake the body, and then burn it.

So how old is this myth? It’s hard to say, but historians have traced the word Upir to a Novgorodain prince (Upir’ Lixyj) as early as 1047, and then it resurfaces as a peasant’s name (Makarenko Upir’) in Novgorod in 1495.

Could this Prince be the original vampire legend? Do you have a favorite vampire legend?

Tyr is a god of war from the Norse pantheon. He’s associated with the Tîwaz rune—an arrow pointing upward. Warriors would often inscribe this rune on their weapons prior to battle, hoping to gain his favor. He also loses a hand to Fenrir, one of Loki’s children.

Prior to the Norse and their ancestors converting to Christianity, this would have been a God warriors and vikings would have honored. Some of these honors included blood, meat, and mead.

At this time, his importance in my writing is minimal, but he’s an interesting god where little is known of him outside the . In Tempest, this is the god William secretly prays to, even though he fights for the Holy Roman Empire. While he doesn’t play a large role, he would’ve been a popular god for those warriors still following the Norse religion of their ancestors.